How much Food Should my almost 10 month old be eating?

Destiny - posted on 11/11/2009
(
20 moms have responded
)

13

10

0

I have a question for anyone out there who can help me. My son Ethan just had a wellness check and they found that he was only 14.4lbs, but his height was 27" long. He had grown in height but he didn't gain much weight and the doctor said he was a little anemic. My problem is that I really can't feed him anymore than he is already eating and the doctor suggested that I give him more iron. He seems very satisfied with what I am giving him. So I tried a different plan where he would eat more and it seemed to fill him up too much. Before his wellness check he was eating: A 4 oz. bottle of formula then cereal with half of a container of fruitSnack would consist of a 4oz bottle but he sometimes wouldn't finish itLunch: A meat with a veggie and sometimes a 2 oz bottleSnack: A 4oz. bottle sometimes only 2 ozDinner: Cereal with another half of fruitThen a 4oz Bottle Before BedDon't know if that was enough but I do know that he very small and don't know what else to do to increase his iron. Does anyone have any suggestions and does the old meal plan sound ok? I am very concerned about my baby and just not sure what to do. He is developmentally doing great! He just started crawling and is very active. But any advice would be greatly appreciated.

MOST HELPFUL POSTS

Christine - posted on 12/01/2009

41

4

2

if your son is reaching his milestones and has no health problems then he may be built slimmer than other babies. babies come in all different sizes, a lot can be genetics.. were you a smaller baby? if he's healthy then i really wouldn't worry about it. i think over feeding him would be a major problem! my son just finished an evaluation and they said he's eating at a 14 month old level.. so you can't go by anybody else's kids. if you believe he's healthy and all his appointments, tests and bloodwork is good then don't stress and let him eat how much he wants!

Hi Rashfa congrats on your baby boy.Do you give him finger food? Babies love to explore with their fingers, and things like toast and bananas are perfect. I introduced lumpier foods a few weeks after mine started on solids and if they did choke a little I owuld just calmly pat them on the back so they didn't think it was a big deal. As I said above my little lad steals my food all the time and I think that's a perfect way to introduce lumps, he sits on my lap and eats from my plate and uses my fork, I never get to finish a meal unless he's asleep but I don't mind because he looks so happy and proud of himself.Just take it slowly and keep trying, he'll get there. Good luck with it.

My daughter is 10 months old. She has weetabix for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch then a 7oz bottle of milk about 3pm, dinner is different things and then another 70z bottle of milk about 9 before bed. She doesnt really want anything else. Always too busy.

20 Comments

View replies by

Lisa - posted on 12/01/2009

11

10

1

Hi, my son who is 7 month's doesn't want his bottle all the time and the doc's want him to eat 4 200 ml of milk a day...formula..I give it to him in his cereal, so whatever way we can.He loves his veg,fruit and even his meat and I tried yogurt..he really loves it. A friend told me about something high in good fat avcoddo..she said it's great.

My son is 10 months old and he gets: Breakfast-oatmeal with a jar of fruit Lunch-a jar of fruit and a jar of veggies with cereal Dinner-A jar of meat and a jar of veggies with cereal and sometimes he seems like he wants more. Plus 6oz bottles in between all that and before bed

are you still feeding him baby food? if so maybe try switching him to regular food. my son eats alot better on regular food than he does on baby food. in fact he will have nothing to do with baby food anymore. but he will eat until he is full then he just plays in it or throws it. as long as he is giving u signs that he is full then you are doing fine. i agree with others though that say maybe giving him a meat with dinner too will help his iron level. and maybe instead of a bottle for a snack try something like cheese and crackers or baby puffs. my son is 10 months as well and he gets egg whites, pancakes, or something like that for breakfast with a fruit and toast, for lunch something like mac n cheese or chicken nuggets, with a fruit also, and for dinner he will eat what we are eating, like hamburger helper, or baked chicken and a veggie and fruit. for snacks he gets cheese and crackers, goldfish crackers, stuff like that that is filling but not a meal. just feed him till he tells u he is full. thats all you can do. and babies are all different. just because he is small doesnt mean he isnt healthy. my son weighs 22 lbs but is over 30 inches long. my dr as well says his weight is low but he eats very well. you are doing great so keep it up!!!

My son is a bit the opposite, he will eat anything you put in front of him, and he too is at 10 months old. We found that the more milk he drank, the less he ate. As long as he is getting 16 onces of milk in a 24 hour period, you could try cutting out milk during his snack and give him a minigo. I would increase the intake of actual food, and leave the cereal for the morning. We generally give a fruit at every meal for dessert and on snack time, a minigo for one of snack times, meat and veggies for every meal. He will get more and more interested in food as you bring more and more to the menu. Also, do not get discouraged if certain meats do not entice him. WE had a lot of trouble at first with chicken, but the more I tried to feed him (masking it in sweet potatoes and such) the less trouble I had later. He literally eats anything now. It is the texture they have issues with at first. Good luck, and keep me posted.

With my son who just turned 10 months on the 14th of this month weighs about 24 lbs. and is about 33 inches long....he's been big since birth and he likes food for sure. What I do with him is I try to only give him a bottle before his morning nap at 10am and afternoon nap at 2pm and right before he goes to bed around 7pm. and he generally takes a 6-8oz. bottle depending on how the day went with his eating. In the morning he has rice cereal with fruit and some cheerio cereal pieces. That's at about 8am. Then at around 9 he has some Gerber Yogurt Melts. At 9:45 we have our bottle and go down for a nap. He usually sleeps until about 12pm. We get up, we have lunch which is usually a stage 3 jar of baby food either a vegetable or a meat or a mixture of the 2 and I've started giving him a Pediatric supplement drink of about 2-3 oz. with his lunch. Then at around 1:00-1:30 we have another snack, Yogurt Melts or Cheerios and sometimes a Gerber cookie. At 2 we have our bottle and nap. at 4 another snack and at 5:30 we have dinner. He's been eating what we eat usually. Lots of protein and he enjoys anything with cheese on it like macoroni and cheese or those pasta sides. and usually i give him some brocolli and carrots. Then at 6:30 we have a bath and by 7 we have our bottle and go to bed. Sometimes he goes to sleep at 8 depending on how tired he is. I think as long as you are giving them healthy foods when they do eat and they actually eat it then that's all you really can do. But I agree, maybe giving him an iron supplement or even Vitamin drops would help too. Good luck! Hope this helped. Every baby is different though so don't get discouraged.

My son is the same the nurses drove me crazy always making me worried but he's great, he was born 9lbs 1oz and 20 and a quarter inches now at ten and a half months he weighs 18.5 lbs and is 28inches. For my son because he is so active, I've kinda had to for go the whole high chair thing and just feed him as he plays he eats more that way. We don't have a schedule it unfortunatly does not work for him and most of the time I just put extra on my plate cuz he definatly eats more if he thinks it's mine. Totally unconvetional, but so is my kid lol Good luck and don't worry if he's active he's good!!

My lo is just 10 month old and he has cereal for breakfast followed by 4oz bottle. He has toast when he gets to nursery (about 8.30) He has lunch provided by nursery things like fish fingers, chips and beans and a dessert. He has a biscuit mid afternoon and tea (usually 190g jar and a dessert) Before bed he has 7oz bottle. At his last weight check 3 wks ago he was 20lb 6oz. Compared to other 10 month olds that we have met Thomas appears small but like your lo he is constantly active, nearly walking. I would just try to gradually increase your lo intake at meals - adding dessert such as yogurt/fruit pot. If he is on 6month plus formula he should be getting the iron he needs. Does he sleep through the night - if he is waking then this will be an indication he needs more food during the day.Hope this helpsSuzanna

In the UK we've actually been advised recently not give young children (under 5's I think it was) too much wholewheat/wholemeal foods as it fills them up and to make sure some high calorie foods where included (obviously not too much processed).

My son is 10 months too and in a typical day his diet would be:morning: empties both breasts (not sure ozs)breakfast: porridge mixed with chopped bananas and apples chopped banana or pear 2 small rusk type biscuitshe will then usually steal half of my bagel toosnack: some kind of fruit and a fromage fraislunch: if in he'll have a sandwich ( 2 pieces of bread)usually with cheese, raisens, yoghurt and rusk biscuit, nd again he usually has some of what I'm having too.snack: large rice cake, bananadinner: meal including meat (he'll eat beef, chicken, pork and turkey) , potatoes or pasta and usually 2 types of veg or pizza with meat and veg toppings. ice cream or similar pudding with some tinned fruit (in own juice not syrup)snack: more porridge with a banana to help him sleepbedtime: drains both breasts.He'll also have drinks of water or diluted fruit juice with his meals.That actually seems a lot lol but he isn't a huge lad and is very active. It also helps that he has teeth and can manage chunks rather than puree and we try to all eat things as a family, so everyone is having the same. But I do sometimes give him age appropropriate jars for things I can't make or don't like so he can try lots of different things.

Our lactation consultant told us when we had him to feed him when he's hungry and not to wake him to feed him. As a result, he's always slept through the night - falls asleep around 2200-2300 hrs and wakes around 0600 hrs. At the last check up yesterday, the doctor said he could stand to gain weight, but that he metabolizes pretty well because he is always on the go.

He is not allowed fast food (we aren't much into fast food, either) or junk foods. His diet is vegetarian and we require that he tries everything at least once. He averages about 1 banana, 24 oz milk with cereal added, 12-16 oz. of various vege and/or fruit purees, and snacks of cheerios, goldfish, or rice cakes (aka surf boards).

Even though he eats when he wants to, he usually tuckers out around the same time every night and wakes the same time every morning. My husband stays at home full time with him and attests that X is nowhere near short of energy! ;-)

oh I misunderstood your question fully. Well in regards to the amounts of food he should be eating, this is what I got from my local Health Services Department. It seems like a lot of food to me, but I go by the suggestions, I just don't give Emma the amounts they are suggesting. I don't even think I eat this much! Here it is (for a 10-12 month old)

Breakfast- formula, 4-6 tbsp iron fortified infant cereal, 2-3 tbsp fruit (fruit that I found easy for my daughter to eat without teeth were pears cut into bite size pieces, apples that I boiled first for 3-5 mins cut into bite size pieces, raspberries, melons, peaches etc. Fruit is the easy part because they are all usally soft. Stay clear of citrus foods until he is 1 and ones containing seeds.

midmorning snack- yogurt, applesauce etc.

Lunch- Formula, 2-3 tbsp meat (iron rich meats are tofu, tuna, fish, chicken, turkey etc). Even though he has no teeth yet, you would be surprised that they can eat. I gave Emma shredded chicken pieces-boneless, skinless and she ate it fine. Fish is also good, but sometimes can cause allergies. Any meat that you can shred is good.

Now as I said, that seems like a lot of food to me and Emma doesn't eat the amounts they suggest, but she does eat from the variety of groups and the times they suggest. However in the evening I give her a yogurt or infant cereal before bed, along with breast milk (to help her sleep through the night).

For me, I find it easiest to think of meals that contain most of the food groups on 1, so you aren't having to prepare all kinds of different things. I also use left overs from what my husband and I eat. For example, lasagna is good (meat, cheese, grain products and I add peas to it), or sheppards pie or chicken pot pie, or homemade soup.

I meant the amount of food he is getting and the formula does contain iron....He is meeting his milestones...the only thing he hasn't done yet is pull himself up to a standing postition. It is difficult to give him a lot of foods because he doesn't have his teeth yet. I wanted to try giving him some meat but no teeth. Do you have any suggestions of foods he could eat that aren't pureed? He is also lactose intolerant and the ped wants us to wait to introduce milk products again. Anyway, thanks for your input. It definitely helps.

I think what you are doing sounds great, but here is my suggestion. When you said you can't feed him more then he is already eating, do you mean how often you are feeding him or the amount? Babies have small stomachs so they need to eat often. So what you are doing with giving him 3 meals and snacks in between is great. Most babies need to eat every 2 hours (either formula or other food). I noticed you give him a meat for lunch but not for supper. You could also give one for supper too, to help increase his iron intake (fish, chicken etc). I think the dinner you are feeding him would be great as a snack before bed (the cereal will fill him up before he goes down for the night). My daughter is 10 months old and weighs 16 lbs 13 oz (but just gained the 13 oz in a matter of two weeks!!) I found since I've started giving her actual adult food (no jarred food) and actual meals (not just fruit and cereal), she gained more weight. From what I have read, it is good to go by the Canadian Food Guide (if you live in Canadian..or whatever healthy guide they have where you live). They need 5 servings of fruit/veggies, meat, grains, dairy etc. Does the formula contain iron? (my daughter nurses so I am not familiar with formula). From the list here, you are offereing him a lot of iron foods (the formula, the cereal, veggies, meat). Is he meeting all the milestones for his age? If so, he may just always be a small baby. He will catch up soon. Keep up the great work. By the way, I am not a professional, the advice I offered was just from my own experience and the information I've read in books etc. Good luck.